By James Knight and Katrina Manson

Gaston Kaboré's “Buud Yam” won the top prize at Fespaco in 1997. Yet Burkina Faso’s most famous director has not made a film for almost ten years.

Not because inspiration has dried up, but because he has dedicated himself to furthering the careers of the continent's up-and-coming filmmakers.

Gaston Kabore

His brand-new training school, Imagine, built with millions of CFA of his own money, opens its doors for Fespaco 2005.

"It's not enough to do films. I owe much to my people, my country and my continent," he says. He is grappling with one of African film's most pressing problems.



The lack of training schools in Africa means many of the continent's filmmakers train abroad. African productions are forced to rely on European crews.

The theme of this year's Fespaco is "training and professional stakes" for precisely this reason. Kaboré is busy putting the spirit of the festival in practice with Imagine.


In lecture rooms, kitted out with state-of-the-art digital editing equipment, film professionals from all over Africa will be able to hone their skills and learn new techniques.

It's not only a building. There's a spirit as well Gaston Kabore

"It's like a movie that we are shooting," he says of the frantic rush to finish construction in time for Fespaco. "It's not only a building. There's a spirit as well.

"You may say that I'm a dreamer," he says, in homage to the John Lennon song that is the inspiration for his training school. "The idea with Imagine is to create an institute of storytelling."



Born in 1952, Kaboré studied history at the Sorbonne in Paris, before going to film school. He returned to Burkina to teach at the national film institute, which closed in 1987.

His directing achievements are all the more remarkable due to the degenerative eye condition that has impaired his sight for more than a decade.

A scene from Bud Yaam

He relies on a trusted team of crew, and his own innate ability to frame the shots that he wants to see in his head. "And I know how to smile in the right direction."

In Wend Kuni, his first feature film and the second ever made in the country, the central character is a mute orphan.

Fiftteen years later, the follow-up film, Buud Yam, sees the hero set out on a search for his parents, discovering his own identity in the process.

Kaboré has said the two films constitute a metaphor for Africa's own struggle for a post-colonial voice and identity.

"After the trauma of colonialism, once you are aware you can speak for yourself, what are you going to say?"

Imagine hopes to help Africa's filmmakers answer that question.